KENTUCKY

Students at a downtown Louisville school are latest to walk out in pronouns bill protest

Lucas Aulbach, Louisville Courier Journal
Wed, February 22, 2023 

Students at Louisville's J. Graham Brown School walked out of class Wednesday to speak out against a pending bill in Frankfort that would allow teachers in Kentucky to misgender students.

Hundreds of kids at the downtown magnet school gathered across the street at Peace Park with flags and signs in support of transgender rights. The crowd chanted "We say gay" at one point – similar legislation has been popularly referred to as "Don't say gay" bills – and listened as more than a half-dozen student speakers shared their views about Senate Bill 150.

Janelle Pitmon, a junior who helped organize the walkout, said she's worried about the impact the proposal and similar bills could have on her friends and classmates. She's been encouraged by support from fellow students and their parents, but she'll likely go to Frankfort to speak out as well.

"This bill puts so many people in so much danger," she said as students walked back to class. "I've been like terrified about this for days – I'm losing sleep over this."

Students at J Graham Brown School protest SB150 and other bills targeting trans youth on Wednesday, February 22, 2023

From January:LGBTQ-related bills Kentucky lawmakers have introduced, and what's on the horizon

The legislation would directly impact Ian Diakov, a transgender senior who uses she/her pronouns. She won't be a Brown student by the time any bill that passes would take effect, but Diakov expects to attend college in or near Kentucky and has no plans to stop speaking out.

Diakov took the mic during Wednesday's walkout to say her "existence is not political." Brown students and staff have supported her, she said, but she doesn't want to see students have to remain silent about their identities in the future.

"It's incredibly angering to see the majority of senators in Frankfort and representatives in Frankfort take so much of a stance pushing hate at our schools and trying to push policy that really has no benefit to them and has no benefit here in JCPS," Diakov said afterward. "Students should be able to focus on all of their learning instead of focusing on whether or not their teacher might ask them to parents who might not support them."

Ian Diakov, a senior at J Graham Brown School, speaks out during a protest over SB150 and other bills targeting trans youth on Wednesday, February 22, 2023

What's in the bill?

SB150 would allow teachers to use pronouns aligned with a student's biological sex even if that student does not identify with them and requires schools to give parents advance notice of upcoming lessons on human sexuality to allow them to opt-out their children.

It isn't the only bill critics consider an attack on trans and LGBTQ kids, either.

House Bill 30 would prohibit trans students in public schools from using restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identities and House Bill 470, a broad piece of legislation filed Tuesday with 20 co-sponsors, would essentially ban gender transition services for trans kids across the state, cracking down on health care providers that provide such services and requiring teachers to out trans and non-binary students to their parents if they ask for new pronouns or change their gender expression, among other moves.

Not the first walkout

Wednesday's walkout by Brown School attendees was not the first the city has seen over SB150. Students at Atherton High held a demonstration earlier this month, and last week Ballard High students walked out of class to protest against the legislation as well.

SB150 passed in the Kentucky Senate earlier this month and is now waiting for a committee assignment in the House.

Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Brown School kids walk out to protest trans pronouns bill